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Ammonium nitrate

 
Ammonium Nitrate

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Ammonium nitrate



 
 
The chemical compound
Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a Chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical element Chemical bond together in a fixed mass ratio that can be split into simpler substances....
 ammonium nitrate, the nitrate
Nitrate

In inorganic chemistry, a nitrate is a salt of nitric acid with an ion composed of one nitrogen and three oxygen atoms . In organic chemistry the esters of nitric acid and various alcohols are called nitrates....
 of ammonia
Ammonia

Ammonia is a chemical compound with the chemical formula nitrogenhydrogen. It is normally encountered as a gas with a characteristic pungent odor....
 with the chemical formula N
Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674?. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere....
H
Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the chemical symbol H. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, nonmetallic, tasteless, highly combustion and explosive Diatomic molecule gas with the molecular formula H2....
4N
Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674?. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere....
O
Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
3, is a white powder at room temperature and standard pressure. It is commonly used in agriculture
Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
 as a high-nitrogen fertilizer
Fertilizer

Fertilizers are chemical compounds given to plants to promote growth; they are usually applied either through the soil, for uptake by plant roots, or by foliar feeding, for uptake through leaves....
, and it has also been used as an oxidizing agent
Oxidizing agent

An oxidizing agent can be defined as either:#a chemical compound that readily transfers oxygen atoms, or#a substance that gains electrons in a redox chemical reaction...
 in explosives, including improvised explosive device
Improvised explosive device

An improvised explosive device is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. They may be partially comprised of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery round, attached to a detonating mechanism....
s.

Ammonium nitrate, when mixed with water, will create a cold substance that can be used as a cold pack.

processes involved in the production of ammonium nitrate in industry, although simple in chemistry, challenge technology: The acid-base reaction
Acid-base reaction theories

An acid-base reaction is a chemical reaction that occurs between an acid and a base . Several concepts exist which provide alternative definitions for the reaction mechanisms involved and their application in solving related problems....
 of ammonia
Ammonia

Ammonia is a chemical compound with the chemical formula nitrogenhydrogen. It is normally encountered as a gas with a characteristic pungent odor....
 with nitric acid
Nitric acid

Nitric acid , also known as aqua fortis and spirit of nitre, is a highly corrosion and toxic strong acid that can cause severe burns....
 gives a solution of ammonium nitrate: HNO3(aq) + NH3(g) ? NH4NO3(aq).






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Encyclopedia


The chemical compound
Chemical compound

A chemical compound is a Chemical substance consisting of two or more different chemical element Chemical bond together in a fixed mass ratio that can be split into simpler substances....
 ammonium nitrate, the nitrate
Nitrate

In inorganic chemistry, a nitrate is a salt of nitric acid with an ion composed of one nitrogen and three oxygen atoms . In organic chemistry the esters of nitric acid and various alcohols are called nitrates....
 of ammonia
Ammonia

Ammonia is a chemical compound with the chemical formula nitrogenhydrogen. It is normally encountered as a gas with a characteristic pungent odor....
 with the chemical formula N
Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674?. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere....
H
Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the chemical symbol H. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, nonmetallic, tasteless, highly combustion and explosive Diatomic molecule gas with the molecular formula H2....
4N
Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674?. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere....
O
Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
3, is a white powder at room temperature and standard pressure. It is commonly used in agriculture
Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
 as a high-nitrogen fertilizer
Fertilizer

Fertilizers are chemical compounds given to plants to promote growth; they are usually applied either through the soil, for uptake by plant roots, or by foliar feeding, for uptake through leaves....
, and it has also been used as an oxidizing agent
Oxidizing agent

An oxidizing agent can be defined as either:#a chemical compound that readily transfers oxygen atoms, or#a substance that gains electrons in a redox chemical reaction...
 in explosives, including improvised explosive device
Improvised explosive device

An improvised explosive device is a bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action. They may be partially comprised of conventional military explosives, such as an artillery round, attached to a detonating mechanism....
s.

Ammonium nitrate, when mixed with water, will create a cold substance that can be used as a cold pack.

Production

The processes involved in the production of ammonium nitrate in industry, although simple in chemistry, challenge technology: The acid-base reaction
Acid-base reaction theories

An acid-base reaction is a chemical reaction that occurs between an acid and a base . Several concepts exist which provide alternative definitions for the reaction mechanisms involved and their application in solving related problems....
 of ammonia
Ammonia

Ammonia is a chemical compound with the chemical formula nitrogenhydrogen. It is normally encountered as a gas with a characteristic pungent odor....
 with nitric acid
Nitric acid

Nitric acid , also known as aqua fortis and spirit of nitre, is a highly corrosion and toxic strong acid that can cause severe burns....
 gives a solution of ammonium nitrate: HNO3(aq) + NH3(g) ? NH4NO3(aq). For industrial production, this is done using anhydrous ammonia gas and concentrated nitric acid. This reaction is violent and very exothermic. After the solution is formed, typically at about 83% concentration, the excess water is evaporated to an ammonium nitrate (AN) content of 95% to 99.9% concentration (AN melt), depending on grade. The AN melt is then made into "prills" or small beads in a spray tower, or into granules by spraying and tumbling in a rotating drum. The prills or granules may be further dried, cooled, and then coated to prevent caking. These prills or granules are the typical AN products in commerce.

The Haber process
Haber process

The Haber process, also called the Haber?Bosch process, is the nitrogen fixation reaction of nitrogen and hydrogen, over an enriched iron Catalysis, to produce ammonia....
 combines nitrogen and hydrogen to produce ammonia, part of which can be oxidised to nitric acid
Nitric acid

Nitric acid , also known as aqua fortis and spirit of nitre, is a highly corrosion and toxic strong acid that can cause severe burns....
 and combined with the remaining ammonia to produce the nitrate. Another production method is used in the so-called Odda process
Nitrophosphate process

The nitrophosphate process was a method for the industrial production of nitrogen fertilizers invented by Erling Johnson in the city of Odda, Norway around 1927....
.

Crystalline phases

Transformations of the crystal states due to changing conditions (temperature, pressure) affect the physical properties of ammonium nitrate. The following crystalline states have been identified:

System Temperature (°C) State Volume Change (%)
- >169.6 liquid -
I 169.6 to 125.2 cubic +2.1
II 125.5 to 84.2 tetragonal -1.3
III 84.2 to 32.3 a-rhombic +3.6
IV 32.3 to -16.8 ß-rhombic -2.9
V -16.8 tetragonal -


The type V crystal is a quasi-cubic
Cubic

Cubic may refer to:...
 form which is related to caesium chloride
Caesium chloride

Caesium chloride is the chemical compound with the formula CaesiumChlorine. This colorless solid is an important source of caesium ions in a variety of applications....
, the nitrogens of the nitrate
Nitrate

In inorganic chemistry, a nitrate is a salt of nitric acid with an ion composed of one nitrogen and three oxygen atoms . In organic chemistry the esters of nitric acid and various alcohols are called nitrates....
s and the ammonium
Ammonium

The ammonium cation is a positively electric charge polyatomic ion of the chemical formula NH4+. It has a formula weight of 18.05 and is formed by protonation of ammonia ....
s are at the sites in a cubic array where Cs and Cl would be in the CsCl lattice. See C.S. Choi and H.J. Prask, Acta Crystallographica B, 1983, 39, 414-420.

Disasters

Ammonium nitrate decomposes into gas
Gas

In physics, a gas is a state of matter, consisting of a collection of particles without a definite shape or volume that are in more or less random motion....
es including oxygen
Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
 when heated (non-explosive reaction); however, ammonium nitrate can be induced to decompose explosively by detonation. Large stockpiles of the material can be a major fire risk due to their supporting oxidation, and may also detonate, as happened in the Texas City disaster
Texas City Disaster

The Texas City Disaster of April 16, 1947, started with the mid-morning fire and detonation of approximately 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate on board the France-registered vessel SS Grandcamp in the port at Texas City, Texas, Texas, killing at least 581 people....
 of 1947, which led to major changes in the regulations for storage and handling.

There are two major classes of incidents resulting in explosions:
  • In the first case, the explosion happens by the mechanism of shock to detonation transition. The initiation happens by an explosive charge going off in the mass, by the detonation of a shell thrown into the mass, or by detonation of an explosive mixture in contact with the mass. The examples are Kriewald, Morgan (present-day Sayreville, New Jersey
    Sayreville, New Jersey

    Sayreville is a Borough located on the Raritan River, near Raritan Bay in Middlesex County, New Jersey, New Jersey. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 40,377....
    ) Oppau
    Oppau explosion

    The Oppau explosion occurred on September 21 1921 when a storage silo storing 4,500 metric tonne of a mixture of ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate fertilizer exploded at a BASF plant in Oppau, now part of Ludwigshafen, Germany, killing 500–600 people and injuring about 2,000 more....
    , Tessenderlo
    Tessenderlo

    Tessenderlo is a municipality located in the Belgium province of Limburg . It is where the three Belgian provinces of Limburg, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp meet at the front gate of the Averbode Abbey....
     and Traskwood.
  • In the second case, the explosion results from a fire that spreads into the ammonium nitrate itself (Texas City
    Texas City Disaster

    The Texas City Disaster of April 16, 1947, started with the mid-morning fire and detonation of approximately 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate on board the France-registered vessel SS Grandcamp in the port at Texas City, Texas, Texas, killing at least 581 people....
    , Brest
    Brest, France

    Brest is a city in the Finist?re Departments of France in Bretagne in northwestern France.Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Brittany peninsula, Brest is an important port and naval base....
    , Oakdale
    Oakdale

    Oakdale is the name of several places:...
    ), or from a mixture of ammonium nitrate with a combustible material during the fire (Repauno, Cherokee, Nadadores
    Nadadores

    Nadadores is a city in the northern Mexico Mexican state of Coahuila.it serves as the administrative centre for the Nadadores .Nadadores is located at ,...
    ). The fire must be confined at least to a degree for successful transition from a fire to an explosion (a phenomenon known as "deflagration to detonation transition", or DDT). Pure, compact AN is stable and very difficult to initiate. However, there are numerous cases when even impure AN did not explode in a fire.


Ammonium nitrate explosives were used in the Oklahoma City bombing
Oklahoma City bombing

The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic List of terrorist incidents on April 19, 1995 aimed at the Federal government of the United States in which the Alfred P....
.

Ammonium nitrate decomposes in temperatures above 210 °C. Pure AN is stable and will stop decomposing once the heat source is removed, but when catalysts are present (combustible materials, acids, metal ions, chlorides etc.) the reaction can become self-sustaining (known as self-sustaining decomposition, SSD). This is a well-known hazard with some types of N-P-K Fertilizer
Fertilizer

Fertilizers are chemical compounds given to plants to promote growth; they are usually applied either through the soil, for uptake by plant roots, or by foliar feeding, for uptake through leaves....
s, and is responsible for the loss of several cargo ships.

External links

  • , UK Health and Safety Executive
    Health and Safety Executive

    The Health and Safety Executive is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It is the body responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of occupational safety and health, and for research into occupational risks in England and Wales and Scotland....
     publication INDG230 (1986)